Interior fire-resisting construction.



Pate nt ed on. ID, was.

A. T. STEARNS. INTERIOR FIRE RESISTING CONSTRUCTION.

(Applicatioa flhd. Kay 13, 1899.)

(No ludol.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT OF ICE.-

ALBERT r. STEARNS, on Bos'roN, MASSACHUSETTS.

m'rsalon FIRE-RESISTING'CONSTRUCTION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 634,739, dated October 10, 1899. Application filed May 18, 1899- Serial it 716,660- mamas.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT T. STEARNS, of Boston, county of Suffolk, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Interior Fire-Resisting Construction, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters and numerals on the drawings representing like parts.

At the present time'very considerable attention is being given to the production of interior construction for buildings which, al-

, though perishable, will resist and prevent the spread of fire from one to another apartment.

I have made a door and its casing and 1 threshold so that one side of the door. or its surrounding casing may be destroyed by fire over upon the two halves.

enlarged section in theline m, Fig. 1, with the casing 01' frame and its jamb to the door open ing I apply to the studding, corner-beads,and plaster a sheet of metal, it constituting fireresistance material, so that a fire occurring in one apartment may not run through the doorway to another apartment. g

Figure 1 shows a door and its surrounding. casing and sill. Fig. 2 is a detail showing the edge of the door with its finish partially broken out, the fire resistant at the interior of the door beingshown as flanged overupon the two halves of the door. Fig. 3 shows the top of the door with the fire-resistant flanged Fig. 4 is a muchdoor and sill broken. out centrally; and Fig. 5 is an enlarged vertical section in the line at, Fig. 1, said door being broken out transversely to save space upon the drawings.

My improved door Ais composed of two independent sides, one side being separated froirn'the' otherside throughout by a fire-re.-

sisting layer A?, preferably of metal, but

which may be of any other usual or common fire-resisting material. The two sides of the door being alike, I need describe specifically but one side.

Each side of the door presents two independent side stiles CL 1) and top and bottom stiles c d. .The side stiles are connected by suitable cross-stiles of g of any desired number and the cross-sti es may be united by other vertical stiles, according to the style or character of the design or pattern of the door and the number of panels h it is desired to present.

In the production of my improved door I prefer to makeup the two sides each presenting a thin door, but Without the beading 911.. That part of each half of the door which is to be placed against the fire-resistant material is or may be left plain, and the panels may be, left flush withthe side and top and bottom stiles. I put these twohalves of the door against opposite sides of the fire-resistant interior layer A and theedges of said *material, it being supposed to be metal, will be bent or flanged to overlap part of the door edge, 'said material being preferably cut at intervals to leavea series ofwings m, which may be bent in opposite directions, (see Figs. 2 and 4,) so that one wing will overlap the edge of one half and the next wing the edge of theother half of the door, said wings beingunited to the door-halves by suitable fas-' tenings m which may be nails.

Figs. 2 and 3 show theedge and topof adoor with the metallic wings flanged over, as-referred to. By bending the wings alternatelyand uniting them to the two parts of the doorit will be seen that one face of the door might burn 06, yet the connection of the metallic fire-resistant interior plate A would be maintained with the other half of the door facing another apartment. These wings also serve to keep the door'solid and maintain the integrity of the joints between the stiles. The two vertical edges of the door maybe grooved to leave a space m in which (see Fig. 2) the wings m maybe laid when bent over, and said-wings may be connected by the insertion in said groove of afinishing-strip m (partially shown in place,

in Fig. 2,) said strip being glued, cemented, or, it may be, attached in said groove in any desired or suitable manner.

In Fig. l I have broken out the top stile c to show the metallic fire-resistant plate or portion A and I have broken out the latter plate to show the rear side of the top stile c of that half of the door which stands in another apartment. Having applied the two halves or faces of the door to the fire-resistant layer A I blind-nail the stile at one face of the door to the opposing stile at the other face of the door by suitable nails b which are driven, preferably, through the edge of the stile, thence through the metallic fireresistant material A and then into the other stile. The panels and the beading are shown as confined properly in the door and at opposite sides of the fire-resistant material A by means of other nails 19 driven through the heading and thence through the panel and the fire-resistant material, the points of said nails preferably entering one of the stiles more or less.

Referring toFig. 4, a represents an upright stud; b, lathing; c, plaster, and d usual cornor-beads.

I have divided the usual door-jamb longitudinally in two parts 6 and 6 the division being so made as to ptand, when said two parts are united again and put in working position, substantially opposite the vertical central line of the door.

In order to prevent fire from working through the casing from one room to another, I provide a layer of metal between the two parts of the jaw, and to do this I may take fire-resistant metal and bend the same upon itself, as atf to form a dividing-wall, placing said bent portion or wall against one edge of the part c of the door-jamb and fastening it there by means of a suitable nailf and then I may place against said bent portion or wall the piece 6 of the jamb which had previously been separated therefrom and unite the same in place by means of suitable nails, as at f. Having fastened this part c of the door-jamb to the other part c, I may then bend the sheet metal f to the right and left along the inner side of the door-jamb, fastening the same by suitable nails, as f and f and I may then bend the metal about the corner-beads, the metal overlapping said beads and coming, preferably, onto the plaster, and by other nails, as f I may unite the said ends to the plaster, lathing, and studding co, and after this the door-casing g may be added and confined in place in any usual manner.

The jamb cooperating with the top of the door may be subdivided into two parts 0 c asdescribed of the jamb 6 e and the metal 0 be bent and applied to the said top jamb and to the horizontally-arranged studding c substantially as described with relation to the stud a. As to the threshold, it is shown as divided into two parts 0' and r, and a piece of metal 1- is bent uponitself to form a dividing-wall which is inserted between the two edges of the two parts of the jamb, so that said folded metal or wall lies in substantially the vertical center of the door and in substantially the vertical plane of the fire-resistant- A within the door. Preferably said plate will underlie the entire threshold, as represented at the lower part of Fig. 5, and the threshold may be then nailed down to the flooring by suitable nails 7.

Preferably, the upper side of the threshold 1" r will have laid upon it and secured thereto by suitable nails a metal plate 1- the bottom of the door contacting with said metal plate.

The door-jamb may be provided with a metallic jamb-plate m. (Shown in section at the left in Fig. 4:.)

This invention would not be departed from by having two sheets of metal or fire-resistance material between the two door-faces and flanging the edges of said metal, one to wholly overlap the edge of one face of the door and the edge of the other piece to overlap the edge of the other half of the door.

Preferably, the ends of the ribs m will be inturned, as at 30, (see right of Fig. 4,) to enter the wood of the stiles a or b. It will be noticed that the ribs 072', (see Figs. 2 and 8,) extended from the metal plate A present in Fig. 4 a sort of T-shaped flange, which overlaps and is connected with the two halves of the door, and as a modification I may, instead of turning the edge of the metal plate a over, employ a T-shaped strip of metal, (see modification Fig. 6,) it presenting a face it and a leg h. This leg may be inserted between the two halves of the door, and the face It will overlap by its ends the two halves of the door, and suitable nails may be driven through holes in the face to thereby secure the T- shaped orflanged strip to the edge of the door. This T-shaped strip may, if desired, take the place of the part f of the folded strip for of the folded part of the plate r used in the sill, the head of the strip being crossed and held in position by means of that portion of the metallic strip which surrounds the studding a.

I prefer to divide the floorin g h (see'Fig. 5) under the door and fill it in with suitable sand'or fireproof groating 77,

Instead of sheet-metal plate A constituting the fire-resistant material I may use to advantage wire-cloth but sheet metal is preferable.

To provide for applying the lock and hinges, the fire-resistant material may have an opening left in it in the position to be occupied by the lock, or the thin fire-resistant may be readilycut through by usual tools when putting a lock onto the door. In this way it will be understood that not only the door but the casing entirely about the door and the threshold is of fire-resistant material, such as metal, interposed or shaped in such manner that should the Woodwork in any room burn away the metal will stand and prevent the passage metal having its edge shaped to form wings which are turned in opposite directions to overlap the dilferent portions of the door, and means to unite said wings to said door, substantially as described. 3. -A door, composed of two separate halves and an intermediate layer of fire-resistant metal having its edge shaped to form wings to overlap difierent portions of the door, and means to unite said wings to said door, and means to unite one half of the door to the other half, the uniting means passing through the fire-resistant metal, substantially as described.

4. A door of two parts both of wood, a wooden framing surrounding the door, a metallic barrier completely separating the two parts of the door, and metallic means constituting a barrier and completely separating the fram ing into two parts and in line with said first mentioned barrier when the door is closed.

' 5. A door of two parts, both of wood, aframing consisting of four separate sections surrounding the door, each section being in two parts, a metallic barrier completely separating the two parts of the door, and independent metallic plates separating the two parts of each section of the framing and in line with each other and with the metallic barrier of the door when the latter is shut.

6. In interior construction, the combina= tion with a two-part wooden door-jamb or threshold, of a strip of metal separating the two parts of the threshold, and metal overlapping a portion of the upper exposed face of the threshold, substantially as described.-

. In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

' ALBERT T. STEARNS.

WVitnesses:

A. S. Mons, J. E. GRAVES. 

